Bhubaneswar : Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhatri was scored the first hattrick in the first edition of Hero Super Cup and guided the team into the semifinals by winning over NEROCA FC 3-1 at Kalinga Stadium on Friday. Bengaluru will face Mohun Bagan in the second semifinal on April 17.
Bengaluru played like a champion from the beginning of the first whistle, never missed any chance to dominate NEROCA FC. Skipper Sunil Chhetri set the example for the team by leading from the front.

Chhetri opened the account for Bengaluru in the 13th minute of the play. While Bengaluru forward Kumam Udanta Singh delivered a low cross across into the face of the NEROCA goalkeeper Lalit Thapa who punched into the path of Chhetri at the far post with an easy diving header by Chhetri gained a 1-0 lead in favour of the Blues.

The fighter NEROCA was never scum to the pressure, they bounced back in the 45+3 minutes to nail the equaliser by Indian forward Nigthoujam Pritam Singh. Mid-fielder Aryn Williams free-kick from the left was straight to Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who deflected the ball into the path of Pritam who calmly netted the ball into the net in his second try.

Once again it was the Bengaluru captain Sunil gave the lead to the team in the 55th minute. The Indian skipper Sunil was raced past the defender into the box and chipped the ball over NEROCA goalkeeper Lalit Thapa to make it 2-1 in favour of Bengaluru FC.
The desperate NEROCA need a goal to once again score the equaliser, Bengaluru defence was stood rock solid to demoralise the all attacks of NEROCA.

In the 79th minutes, NEROCA forward Flexi Odili Chidi was forwarded the ball to the winger Ashok Singh, who crossed it into the centre, though Chidi got his head to it and sent a good header agonizingly close to the post and lost a good scoring chance for the team.

In another chance, Ashok's corner towards the far post was met by an unmarked Aryan Williams who headed it across the goal and its gone wide in the 90th minute.

Hero of the match, Sunil edge past the NEROCA defender Gouramangi Singh to nailed the hattrick with a low shot into the corner of the net in the 90+4 minutes.
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